Hey Katie,
I want to dump my boyfriend, but he likes me so much. How do I do it without hurting him too much?

Well, to answer your question, I would have to say that there is no easy way to do that one so what I recommend is that you just tell him how you feel instead of leading him on.

Hey Katie,
I am doing a project on the era in time before the Civil War and I am supposed to learn about religion and how it could have caused the Civil War, or led to the Civil War. I need some help because I don't even know where to start. Can you help?

Well, that is one heck of a question. I have done some researching on your question, which I suggest you do, but I have found a lot of info. Apparently this era, of which you speak, was a time when a lot of peace groups were formed, women's rights movements occurred, and abolitionists of slavery were very active. It was a time of reform in the United States. As far as religion goes, a lot of Christian churches were around, all of which were different from one another. Protestant churches left the idea of a strict God and instead concentrated on the personal God and freedom. A lot of the churches taught reform and change; along with that came the idea of slavery. Many churches were against slavery.

The Transcendentalists were a group of people who believed that the truths of life went beyond understanding but were with all people, just as God was an ever-present spirit.

Many well-known people such as Emerson and Thoreau believed in this. They did not agree with slavery and many of the preachers preached against it. The religions formed around the idea of freedom of blacks which just helped to deepen the rift between the slave South and the abolitionist North. Eventually this controversy led to the Civil War.